At 3:00 PM -0600 12/6/96, Paul F. Evans wrote:
. . .>I have shifted from the above to a consideration of Acts 1:8 (these are>projects for a hermeneutics course I am currently engaged in).>>I have come across the particle TE many times before but only have a
slight>grasp of its significance. BADG says that it occurs in Acts 150 times, so>it seems to be a somewhat characteristic feature of Luke's work. I do not>own software for a search to view these. There TE is described as
providing>a close link between clauses.>>In this and other constructions similar to it, is the particle simply>linking what is immediately around it, in this case, the first two>prepostional phrases, hence the common translation both (NASB), or does it>have some force throughout the remaining phrases, linking them as a group>to something else? If it links the first two prep. phrases what type of a>link is it, is it simply matter of geography, since Jerusalem was in
Judea?> Is there something particulalry characteristic in the way Luke employs
it?> I find these nuances difficult to get the hang of (the mechanical "on the>one hand... on the other..." of the novice was mentioned some days ago)
but>a rich source of understanding often.

The most normal construction using TE is precisely the one you find here in
Acts 1:8. TE follows the first word of its clause (just like DE, GAR, and
several other so-called "postpositive" particles in Greek) and indicates
that this word-group as a whole will be linked with one or more other
word-groups indicated by an initial KAI. So here we have three word-groups
indicated:

Potentially confusing here is the fact that IOUDAIAi and SAMAREIAi are also
linked by KAI, so that one who didn't know better might suppose that there
are actually FOUR different areas for evangelization. But that possibility
is obviated by the facts that (a) "Judea and Samaria" constituted a
familiar geographical unity dating from the Assyrian settlement of aliens
in the territory of the earlier northern kingdom o Israel, and (b) PASHi
THi clearly governs both proper nouns: "the whole of Judea and Samaria."

The most common linkage is of two elements into a pair, as TAUTA TE KAI
EKEINA, "these things and those things" or more normal English, "this and
that." In classical Attic there are a couple celebrated examples: the
Athenian phrase for "gentleman" (=aristocrat) is KALOS TE KAI AGAQOS,
loosely "graceful as well as competent"; the second is Pericles' boast
about the Athenian life-style, FILOSOFOUMEN TE KAI FILOKALOUMEN, "we have a
passion for learning as well as for beauty." Occasionally you may find a
variant that uses TE ... TE two or more times, but this is more common in
poetry.